Lawmakers hope the rebate checks and expanded tax benefits for businesses who make new investments in plants and equipment will send Americans on a shopping spree that will help jump start the economy.

anon @ 6:55 p.m. nails it: "taxpayers are going to get to eat this before this is all said and done"...

Nice of that other anon @ 6:23 p.m. to lay that bit of hyperbolic 'reporting' on us via Reuters... What does that have to do with the acceptance of Euros? Will Euros save jobs in the American retail sector?

None the less anon you just might be onto something...

None the less there are jobs to be had according to the BLS: In the service-providing sector, health care employment continued to grow in January (27,000), about in line with average monthly gains over the prior 12 months.Within health care, over-the-month job gains occurred in ambulatory health care services (14,000), which includes offices of physicians, and in hospitals (10,000).

Food services employment continued to trend upward in January. From November through January, food services added an average of 16,000 jobs per month, compared with an average gain of 28,000 jobs for the 12-month period ending in October.

In January, employment in both wholesale and retail trade was little changed. Within retail trade, employment in food and beverage stores was up by 12,000 over the month.